Liquid collector trays, also referred to simply as trays, are used in pressure vessels such as distillation columns in order to enhance fluid separation. One known type of liquid collector trays is the chimney tray, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. The chimney tray 9 is commonly used to draw off a liquid stream, e.g. a liquid intermediate product or a circulating reflux stream, from a nozzle 24 in a vessel 18. Alternatively, the chimney tray can be used to combine the liquid from above within the vessel with a liquid feed to the vessel. While the chimney tray 9 is collecting liquid 4, vapor 2 passes through a chimney riser 12 therein to the sections above. These trays are commonly built to withstand low loadings of applied forces and thus are subject to occasional overloads due to process upsets. Such overloading can cause substantial damage to vessel internals leading to degraded or lost processing functionality. For example, inadvertent introduction of water into a vessel is known to cause such damage when the water “flashes” to steam. When the water flowing through a pipe along with the oil is suddenly exposed to a hot, low pressure area, it flashes or expands rapidly, thereby creating the risk of physical damage to vessel internals.
The traditional approach to avoiding such damage, when elimination of the source of the overloading cannot be eliminated, is to make the trays more rugged. This is usually accomplished via the use of thicker tray panels and additional structural reinforcement.
There exists a need for a liquid collector tray and a pressure vessel utilizing the tray which would resist damage caused by excessive loading in a less costly way. It would further be desirable to have a lighter weight and/or more compact liquid collector tray.